This week we learned that the summer update for Destiny 2 will be its last. And as I read through Bungie’s blog, I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of conflicting emotions, namely sadness and relief.
Across both the original Destiny and Destiny 2, I have wracked up over 1,500 hours with the series, enjoying each of its expansions from The Dark Below all the way to The Final Shape.
I’ve bought comics, I’ve watched my fair share of the lore daddy himself, MyNameIsByf, and I even go back to the original gameplay reveal of Destiny from time to time, just to feel something.
I was never, by any means, a hardcore player, having (shamefully) never completed a raid and casually dipping back in with the launch of a new expansion, rather than playing continuously. But I have a warm and fuzzy spot in my heart for this game, because for me, it marked the beginning of a new era of gaming.
As a teen, the lobbies of Modern Warfare 2 and Red Dead Redemption were the extent of my multiplayer experience. Incredible games that I could easily rave about on their own, but there was something special about Destiny.
Whether it was my love for epic sci-fi or the idea of a persistent evolving multiplayer world, I was smitten with the idea of Destiny. The fact that we would watch this world change over the years, or that you could look at what I was wearing and the guns I wielded and know that I had put in the time with the game.

In fact, it was the first time I booked time off work just to play a game. I don’t think I’ve been quite as hyped for a game pre-launch as I was with Destiny. Stocked up with a box of Irn Bru (note: nectar in a can) and ready to jump into the game with some of my friends, those opening weekends were core gaming memories for me.
And in the following years, I loved gathering the gang together again to dive into a new campaign or try to tackle Grandmaster Nightfalls. There are specific combat encounters within the two Destiny games that my friends and I still hark back to from time to time. I even made my first online gaming friend playing the original game.
I’m not here to critique each of the game's many expansions, which undoubtedly have their peaks and troughs. But across a decade, I was loyally back with each expansion. New enemy variants, cool new planets, awesome new weapons, little snippets of new lore, it all gave me a little flicker of that old nostalgia.
Even at its worst, Bungie knew how to cook up a supremely satisfying shooter. And when you hit that flow state of your stats and perks synergising, bouncing around its levels as an onslaught of enemies surrounds you, and you pop your super at just the right moment, there was truly nothing like it.

But despite my love for the series, there was a point where I felt satisfied with my time in this universe, or at least satisfied with Destiny 2, and that was with The Final Shape. I reviewed the expansion back in 2024, labelling it a “thrilling conclusion to a 10-year saga”, and now with two years of hindsight, it was the perfect ending point for the series.
The old proverb of “all good things must come to an end” is something I’m a stout believer in. It’s why I’m desperate for Rob McElhenney (sorry, Rob Mac...) and the gang to call it quits with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Even back with The Final Shape, I was a little at odds with what was next for Destiny.

A new game? A new multi-year narrative? Quite quickly, post-Final Shape Destiny started to feel reminiscent of post-Endgame MCU. Starting again wasn’t the issue; it was the sense that no one really knew where it was heading. And I didn’t need a Star Wars-inspired expansion to tell me that.
So while I’m relieved that Bungie finally realised it was time to call it quits, I’m just sad that it took them this long, and that, clearly, there was no firm plan. Destiny had its chance to end in a blaze of glory with The Final Shape, but instead, Bungie dragged its burned, crispy carcass two miles beyond the finish line.

It was a goliath in the multiplayer space, once a hallmark for multiplayer shooters, and now it’s being left to sizzle out. Many in the community, including myself, were waiting for that Destiny 3 announcement. But either Bungie isn’t interested, or just didn’t have the foresight to get the ball rolling in time.
So while I do think it’s long past time for Destiny 2 to call curtains, I’m sad that it has ended this way. Destiny, you deserved better.
But what do you think? Are you sad to see the era of the Guardian come to an end? Or are you happy Bungie is finally moving on? Let me know down in the comments below.
Do you think it's the right time to end Destiny 2? (892 votes)
- Yes, I'm sad it's over but it's time to move on
- Eh, I'm not sure to be honest
- No, I think Bungie is making a mistake here





Comments 61
We all knew that the right time was after The Final Shape (goat'd DLC by the way) got released, I have 10K hours in D2 so I can't lie it's sad that there will be no more content...
Destiny 1 remaster would sell really well. Not as a live service game but one and done pvp/pve shooter like COD.
Destiny 2 first came out in 2017, so it had about nine years of updates and expansions. It’s no WOW, but it had a good life.
The game died to me when it went free to play, removed the red war campaign, and shelved the Forsaken DLC. Not the most fond memories, unlike the first game, which I had much more fun with.
I've got stupid hours into D2 but yeah, post TFS it really needed to call it quits.
Boggles my mind that they weren't in minor pre production of D3 for the last 2 years.
I'm really questioning how much expertise of Live Service they really provided to Sony.
It should have been building towards a Destiny 3. I assume Sony said no, and that’s why all bets were on Marathon. I have incredibly fond memories of Destiny 2, sunk a good couple hundred hours into it about 2019/2020. I absolutely would come back for a third game.
It was time to move on after the Final Shape. Now they've killed Destiny 2 without Destiny 3 even starting production. Bungie is cooked.
A very small naïve part of my mind is hoping Factions will be re-revealed at the State of Play with Bungie running it 🤷 Just so we'll all have something to talk about.
The original Destiny was such an exciting game for me. Bungie's first post-Halo game, and they were really getting cozy with Sony. I was switching back post-Xbox 360 to PlayStation (I actually played the beta on 360). This is the last game I actually lined up for after preordering it. The first time I got overwhelmed in a gunfight, and another player appeared and helped me overcome the odds was one of the most iconic moments in my gaming life. When I made the move to PS4, the graphics of the game blew me away, and the whole "shared world" thing was a revelatory. Over the years, and across both Destiny games, I've spent countless hours by myself, with strangers, and with friends. Fighting aliens, fighting each other, and scoring loot. I'll never forget the night that Gjallarhorn finally dropped for me. So many great times and memories. The game certainly had a ton of problems over the years, but I'll miss it, and what it represents and brought to my life. They really should have wrapped with The Final Shape and started work on Destiny 3, and not bothered with Marathon. I know people like it, but it's not going to keep Bungie alive, and it's not my cup of tea. R.I.P. Destiny. Rest well.
@MasterChiefWiggum you must not be that great at marathon to say that which is fine. marathon is a great game Bungie just need to make it more noob friendly and add more modes and story content which they plan on doing.
I dabbled with both Destiny games, and they did have best in class gunplay. Unfortunately, after several expansions and far too many in game currencies, coming back to it as a lapsed player was just too overwhelming.
@zebric21 Destiny 1’s campaign was a whistle stop package tour of the inner planets with Peter Dinklage. Nobody surely wants to experience that?!
@Jay767 I'm not great at it but it's not just about that. There are lots of games I play that I'm not great at, but I stick with them and get better because I like them. I just don't care for the whole design of the game. Any game where you lose all of the stuff you looted AND your equipped gear (AND you still lose everything at the end of a season) is not for me (and I'm certainly not alone, judging by the player numbers). Glad you like it, but you're in the minority, again as the numbers show.
I was there for Destiny since the OG beta. It took the races, classes and gameplay of Phantasy Star Online and rinsed them through Halo.
But the game and its sequel failed to maintain the simple gameplay loop of its influences (PSO and Diablo 3) by bogging them down with silly currencies, stingy loot drops and nonsensical lore. The series was never at any point welcoming to new players.
@Oram77 It truly boggles my mind that the didn’t end Destiny with such a massive sweep on a high note. There might have been more enthusiasm towards Marathon if that was it (and they made it clear that Destiny 3 wasn’t in production). Bungie should’ve said, “This is it. A grand finale, Marathon is next, we want you all to come with us.”
The biggest problem with these live service games other than the fact that the market’s overcrowded with them and most people don’t have the time to invest into multiple game of the nature is that these companies feel this need to milk things just a little bit too long rather than have a proper end. Live service games have that sitcom mentality where they’re pushing “just one more season” even though the cast knows it’s over, the audience knows it’s over, but the executives just see the dollar bills printing and get confused when that slows down.
@MasterChiefWiggum you don’t know how to play the game at all. You literally can upgrade your character skill tree to be able to buy all the good guns from the store with in game currency just collect the materials you need on the map. If you have a high level at the end of season you be able to get really great sponsor kits for the rest of the next season that give you some of the best guns.
@Shepherd_Tallon totally with you on factions mate. 100% that would be big
@Jay767 I know enough to know that I don't like it and it's not for me. If I keep dying, I don't get the materials from the map. Why are you fighting me on this? I don't like the game and you do, and that's fine. I'm not responding to you anymore.
im surprised they are not making destiny 3
Nice piece Aaron.
Its a shame its over, but what a ride Destiny gave to so many.
Where is the "Yes, I'm glad it's over" voting option?
I think Destiny 2 ended because Bungie is roasting over a dumpster fire, not because of narrative reasons.
um sorry to be that guy but "I have wracked up over 1,500 hours with the series...... I’ve bought comics, I’ve watched my fair share of the lore daddy himself, MyNameIsByf, and I even go back to the original gameplay reveal of Destiny from time to time, just to feel something." and "I was never, by any means, a hardcore player" are very conflicting statements!
I was a huge fan of the original Destiny but I never got into Destiny 2.
@Jay767 I get being defensive about the quality of Marathon. I've definitely done my share of it. But @MasterChiefWiggum isn't out of line with his take. Extraction shooters, with the exception of ARC, just aren't designed for casual fun, which can be alienating for most people. I, myself, have gotten pretty burnt out on the extraction loop. If you like that cycle, then the game is phenomenal, but it really is a taste thing and it's pretty clear by the numbers that most people don't find that taste appealing.
The irony is everything they laid out in this last TWAB sounds like the game we all wanted a year ago. Sounds less grindy, less challenging, no portal. Like it or not this game always thrived when it was less hardcore. Don’t really know why the last attempt was to make it more hardcore than ever? As a 10 year player, I’m looking forward to playing in June one last time to see the updates and then it will truly be a distant memory. I also don’t believe Bungie has anything coming in the future. I think Marathon will shut down before the end of the year, Sony will erase the Bungie name and just sparse out the remaining talent to other studios. What a failed acquisition for Sony. It’s worse than even Concord at this point.
It is really sad to end like this, I adored the OG and still have the Destiny 1 theme of my PS4 which I love as it plays the original music plus it had Dinklage in it who was awesome and the best ghost IMO. It also introduced me to raids and a proper MMO scene, really fond memories.
2 was never as good and went crazy with currencies but I still enjoyed the first couple of years, I started to lose interest with the gambit mode and from there on in drifted away (no pun intended).
Great article though @AaronBayne thank you.
@Jay767 the only thing great about Marathon is its technical prowess which was literally just ripped from Destiny. It’s being impressed the creators of Destiny could make a one off mode called Marathon, lol.
The place where, after WoW, most of my gaming friendships have been made. Around 3,500 hours across D1 and D2 (mainly as a Titan) will be fondly remembered but I knew once I completed The Final Shape campaign, I was done. Like others have said - it would have been the perfect time for Bungie to sunset D2 and move on to whatever's next. I'll reinstall and log in for one final go-around with the clan this summer, for nostalgia's sake.
@wildcat_kickz I get that every game can’t be made for everyone and that’s perfectly fine. saros and Returnal are two Sony single players games that you lose almost all your progress when you get killed too. I look at Extraction shooters and rogue lite games in the same light.
@For-Kier that’s not necessary true at all. I played a lot of Destiny myself besides Bungie signature gunplay feel, bungie had before destiny both games are nothing alike.
Bungie needs to go back and start making single player campaigns again in their games. I had zero interest in Destiny 1 and 2.
Can you make an option for the poll “never played Destiny 2 but love Marathon”? Haha I would choose that!
The choices you gave in the poll are pretty *****, D2 had some terrible things I will never forget, hiding payed content in the vault and the onboarding, plus the UI, oh my god, shooting was Bungie tastic, however for how long will they stay above water with that?
I might have missed something but wasn't a lot of D2 content either 'sunsetted' or 'mothballed'.
I wonder if all that stuff will come back in some form or another.
Destiny's time was over the minute Bungie was purchased by Sony.
How many times u going to write about destiny omg
>1500 hours
With the exception of my 1000 hour paladin in WoW (thanks months of depression causing me to never leave the house) I've never played any game anywhere near as long as that. I get massively put off by repetition, kinda makes me feel like I'm doing a job where a man next to me smashes a toaster, hands it to me and I fix it, then he smashes it, then I fix it, etc.
Point is, that is pretty hardcore. Though I did once see a guy with 10,000 hours in Dark Souls.
Was Destiny's 2 end overdue? Yeah.
But ending D2 while not having D3 in works is pure lunacy.
And since Bungie lost their "independence" after Lightfall's failure and Sony took over the board, it's on them.
If they have any semblance of not idiotic thinking, they should have greenlit D3 right after The Final Shape was released. It was pretty clear that it was "Avengers Endgame" moment for franchise and people will start leaving in droves and only D3 will bring them back and even crazier considering fact that Sony paid 3,6 billion $ for that studio.
Instead of logical D2 Final Shape - Marathon - D3 we will get Marathon and if number of players won't pick up, Bungie will be probably gone. Which is almost criminal considering Destiny is billion dollar franchise.
It's crazy to me that people are only talking about Microsoft when talking about mismanaging studios, but current Sony is no better. Their only saving grace is studio that they cultivated in PS3 era.
I was at the local Pawn America store last Saturday, and I checked out their video game section. (There’s nearly always a deal because some dumb boob employee doesn’t know what certain games are worth and, thus, underprices something.)
Unfortunately, I didn’t find any great PS4 or PS5 deals that day, but I did see they had, oh, about 25 different PS5 games…along with literally 20 used copies of Destiny 2. Ok, wait, wait…perhaps you’re thinking, yeah, but what’s the price? Maybe Destiny 2 is overpriced and that’s why there are so many of ‘em. To that, I say, “nope.” Destiny 2 was $1.99. (As a point of reference, there was 1 copy of Anthem; it was $4.99.) So, short story long, is it time for Destiny 2 to be done? Yep, it appears so.
It was a good run, Destiny 2. Happy trails.
@Oram77 Jesus how do you have that much time in a single game?? It came out a little over 8 years ago. That means you have spent 14% of your life (including sleep time) these past few years playing D2 since it came out. On average 3.25 hours per day every day. How do you have the time???
it only had two games. not that i care about the series, but this is sad
SONY SHOULD HAVE NEVER BOUGHT BUNGIE FOR THE RIDICULOUS AMOUNT THAT THEY PAID!!!!
That being said
Why not have Bungie work on a Killzone/Destiny tie in trilogy.
They are only 400 years apart in their respected timelines. I do not know how the story would work out, that is what would make it cool. I know they could tie the storyline to the ISA (Interplanetary Strategic Alliance)
I would definitely play a new Killzone, and I think it would be a cool idea.
@RicebinBernacky I suppose it is fairly hardcore tbf. I've always seen myself as a more casual enjoyer of the game, despite the amount of time played (although keep in mind this is two games across a decade). Never managed to get into the raids, and beyond the launch month of expansions, I wasn't playing the game every day. That's basically what I meant by saying I wasn't a hardcore player. Maybe shoulda clarified a little.
@Kriandis they scammed sony over valuing their company i'm more upset at sony not taking control right away as they should have..
@Matroska I remember typing /played into WoW on my paladin main and getting a result of over one year of playtime... now a lot of that would have been spent standing on the bridge in Ironforge outside the Auction House, emoting in my full Judgement armour set but still... yeah. I put a lot of time into that little guy!
Bungie is a fantastic studio instead of holding them back. Sony should be capitalising on what they do best and supporting them to making a top draw FPS that Sony desperately needs right now.
Marathon is just not cutting it.
@Jediwills I heard this story of a great studio being held back by someone else too many times now to keep believing it.
First it was Microsoft. Bungie went off to Activision and created Destiny. Who we'll blame for the game's shortcomings? Well, Activision / Blizzard of course! Then they went independent. And people blamed them for the sad state of Destiny 2. But now it is Sony's turn.
I blame Sony only for purchasing Bungie. those money could have been spent on other studios making better games than D2.
People have opinions and votes, but (no offence) they are worthless.
What matters, and what cuts past all the forum talk, is MONEY.
If updating Destiny was bringing in healthy profits that exceeded the development costs, there is no way they'd stop. No one slaughters a cash cow.
The reality is that Destiny isn't pulling in new players and selling games/expansions, and those who do play Destiny are not spending money.
Over in the world of WoW, existing WoW players are paying subs and buying cosmetics, mounts and other game services from the store.
Now I'd ask the Destiny fans here: what are YOU paying?
This is why WoW players get loads of new content, and you will be getting nothing. Harsh truth.
I'll be crying over this tonight, but a little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Training Lair on my Kinect will help to dry my tears!
Loved D1 & 2, but like most, I knew that the Final Shape was the right time to call it quits. Have many great memories, and met a lot of fantastic people during the countless hours spent playing both titles. I'm grateful to Bungie for all of that, but wish that they had gone out in a blaze of glory with TFS.
@jgrangervikings1 for what it’s worth, the Destiny 2 disc is functionally worthless since the base game has become free to play. So in that context, 2 dollars is expensive!
Destiny one I thought was fantastic for a while, simple ish and straightforward.
Then things started developing and then destiny 2.
I don’t think I’d have ever seen such a complex and complicated mish mash of things and items etc.
The biggest Bungie mistake was making Marathon a live-service game.
I think it would've been way more hype to make it their first proper narrative FPS since Halo but unfortunately we still have ***** Hermen Hulst destroying everything from within.
I'm starting to suspect he might actually be a MS mole send in to sabotage Sony.
Although I'm loving Marathon I still think they could have made an Extraction Shooter within Destiny 2 as a new mode.
@PloverNutter
1500 hours divided by 8 years, divided by 365 days per year would equal approximately half an hour per day right? Not a lot by mmo standards really.
The Final Shape was too effective conclusion to the light and dark saga. I doubt we’ll see as satisfying ending to a live service game for a long time. The money involved in launching and running games of this scale mean studios wouldn’t want to create a neat narrative tie off and natural jumping off point.
Well its been a good game but its the same old grind and missions it's gone Zzzzzzzzzzz.
No, this is a complete cop out. It would be different if Bungie didnt have a new game and decided that Destiny was finally finished. Fans have invested hours of character development, Paid for DLC and Accessories , created communities and teams to tackle challenges.
They Released Marathon while keeping Destiny alive, just in case marathon failed. They paused updating Destiny to do so, claiming they would return to it in the future. If the intention was to close Destiny it would have been in the roadmap somewhere, but with marathon becoming a success and a new source of income, the struggle to come up with new ideas and content could be traded for an easier option.
However, Destiny is established, has a following and love it or hate it almost every gamer knows the name Destiny. It has withstood the test of time and still has the potential to draw in new players with the right type of content. Yes, it need a a new direction, but it has excellent gunplay and exploration, The control is near perfected.
But it doesnt matter now. Bungie has moved on to its newer shinier platform, and in my opinion I think its not going to last, and they will have hamstringed themselves because of greed.
Thats my 2 cents.
I am not a player or fan, but i will say that letting go of your userbase is a mistake. They may not return.
An announcement of Destiny 3 would only be logical in order to keep the fanbase hooked and looking to the future.
This is a dropping of the ball not only of Bungie but of Sony. These were the people with live service know-how?! Lol!
Loved Destiny 2 (even the 1 before that) but I had to drop middle 2nd year because too demanding in terms of engagement, too hard to keep up with one team…
Have they made improvements for single/casual players or it’s still as hard for people like myself?
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